


A Time For Change

by TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel



Series: Ripples [1]
Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Vader is still a Sith... at this point anyway, Vader rebels against the Emperor, but subtly, the Death Star is an abomination and Vader thinks so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-30 23:30:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6446557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel/pseuds/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vader might be a Sith, but he has never been interested in the wholesale destruction of the galaxy. This new battle station, however… if Sidious begins destroying planets, where will he <i>stop?</i> How many lives will be sacrificed upon the altar of his absolute power over the galaxy, before he decides that he is done?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Time For Change

It’s seeing the Death Star which changes things.

Vader might be a Sith, but he has never been interested in the wholesale destruction of the galaxy. This new battle station, however… if Sidious begins destroying planets, where will he _stop?_ How many lives will be sacrificed upon the altar of his absolute power over the galaxy, before he decides that he is done? 

Vader knows, with absolute certainty, that Sidious will never stop. He will destroy everything and everyone which stands in his way, and it doesn’t matter if that means killing down to the last man, woman and child in the galaxy. Nothing matters to Sidious but himself, and his own glory. 

Vader has seen, over the last nineteen years, how the Empire has become more and more circumscribed; the more the activities of the people are restricted, the greater each infraction seems. Even if the Rebels were completely destroyed, Vader knows, Sidious would not be content: he would turn his eyes back to his Empire, and hunt down every person who dared put a toe out of line. But it is in the nature of people to break rules, even if they are only minor ones – no one can be obedient all the time. Vader understands that essential truth of people’s nature.

But the Emperor? Either he does not understand, or more likely, he simply does not care: he demands, and has always demanded, total obedience to his every whim. And it is that which will condemn the galaxy, if someone does not do something about it.

Deep down, somewhere in his heart, Vader still remembers that one of his original goals was to see the Republic made _better_. For a long time, it no longer seemed to matter, after the loss of his wife and unborn child; but now, as Vader sees where Sidious’ reign is headed, he can’t help but think of that long-ago dream of improving the lot of the galaxy. He wanted to rid the galaxy of slavery, once, to ensure that others tasted the freedom he had been offered: now, here he is, serving a master once again, a cruel and capricious master who cares nothing for him, no matter what Sidious might have pretended in the past, while slavery is rife throughout the galaxy.

Once upon a time, Anakin Skywalker believed that he deserved better than to be at the mercy of another’s whims. Perhaps it is time that Vader believed so too. He can never atone for what he did to his family, that he knows; but perhaps it is time he stopped allowing himself to be punished for it.

The problem is, Vader knows that he cannot take Sidious in a fair fight. The Emperor is a Sith Master for a reason: he is cunning and strong, and more powerful than Vader. Maybe Vader could have taken him on once, before he burned alive in the fires of Mustafar, but now? Now Vader is physically weak, dependent on the prosthetic suit which keeps him alive. Vader knows that the technology of the suit could easily be upgraded, to improve his mobility and ability to function; but the Emperor would never allow such a thing.

No, Vader cannot take the Emperor on directly, not as he is now. Which leaves only the path of subterfuge, and secret rebellion.

It is Vader who ensures that copies of the Death Star blueprints are stored where one of the Rebel spies has access to them. When the plans are inevitably stolen, Vader chases down the culprits, as his position demands he must. He cannot let anyone know that he has sympathy for the Rebels’ cause: to openly rebel against Sidious now would only mean his inevitable death.

Vader captures Princess Leia Organa, and is pleased to discover that the plans are missing from her ship. She’s a clever and resourceful woman, fiercely strong, and with a powerful Force presence. Vader deliberately does not think of his wife, and how much the Princess reminds him of her. He has no doubt that had Padme lived, she would now be part of the Rebellion; the thought that at last, he is doing something that Padme would approve of, is a comfort to him. It’s a meagre comfort, perhaps, but then… it has been a very long time since Vader has had any comforts at all. He will take what comfort he can get.

When Vader takes the interrogation droid with him to Organa’s cell, the young woman’s eyes fill with fear, but she never loses her posture of dignified defiance. Vader cannot help but approve.

The woman’s wary confusion when Vader activates the scrambler to kill any espionage devices and then deactivates the interrogation droid is somewhat amusing.

“You may relax, Princess,” Vader tells her. “I have no intention of interrogating you.”

She stares at him, all hostility and open disbelief.

“And why is that, Lord Vader?” she asks, with a haughty pretence at politeness.

“This battle station is an abomination,” Vader tells her. “The Emperor has gone too far. He will not rest until all potential opposition is dead, even if it means the death of the entire galaxy. He must be stopped.”

Vader feels the woman’s shock, before her emotions are tightly leashed.

“Is this your way of informing me that you wish to join the Rebel Alliance?” Organa jibes, and Vader admires her composure.

“No,” says Vader. “I am not fool enough to think that your organisation would ever accept me, nor that the Emperor would not hunt me down personally should I turn against him. I do not have the strength to defeat the Emperor in battle, should it come to that. No, I do not wish to join your Rebellion. But I am willing to assist it where I can, in ways which will not expose my true allegiances.”

“And what are your true allegiances?” Organa demands immediately.

Vader hesitates for only a moment.

“To the people of this galaxy,” he says. “I have served my master for too long, and to the detriment of the Empire at large. The Republic was corrupt and inefficient, but it did not condone the atrocities that my master orders as a matter of course.”

“Atrocities you have yourself committed,” Organa snaps.

Vader inclines his head.

“Yes.”

For a long moment they regard each other.

“How can I be sure of your sincerity?” Organa asks, at last. Her tone is still suspicious, but Vader can tell that she is thinking over everything that he has said. He knows that pragmatism tells her that she cannot afford to reject his offer, however much she would like to throw it in his face.

“Because I was the one that ordered for the Death Star plans to be stored where Lieutenant Commander Skrell had access to them,” Vader says. “Do you really think me so careless as to store them where they could be so easily accessed unless it was intentional?”

Organa thinks that over.

“Will the Emperor believe so?”

Vader’s mouth curls a little in a sneer behind his helmet.

“I have fulfilled his every whim for the past nineteen years. As long as I bow and scrape and present myself as penitent for my carelessness, he will think the incident nothing but a thoughtless mistake on my part.”

His voice as it exits the vocoder is cool and composed as always, devoid of the bitter resentment he feels, but Organa stares at him as though seeing something in him that she had never suspected.

“You hate him,” she says. “The Emperor.”

Vader nods slightly.

“Yes. He is my master in every way that matters.”

Organa’s eyebrows rise at that, but even now, she is not without diplomacy: she says nothing, despite her mild incredulity at the statement.

“I intend to inform Tarkin that your resistance to the mind probe is considerable,” Vader tells her. “It is likely that he will threaten to unleash the power of this battle station against your home planet.” Organa pales. “You cannot allow him to know the location of the Rebel base, nor allow him to retrieve the Death Star blueprints. It is imperative that this battle station is destroyed. The alternative is to see every planet the Emperor deems insufficiently compliant destroyed without mercy.”

“But _surely_ he wouldn’t – Alderaan is a peaceful planet–” she protests.

“Men such as Tarkin care little for innocent lives,” says Vader. “I say this not to threaten you, but to prepare you for Tarkin’s tactics. You must be strong.”

Organa swallows, but nods.

Vader re-activates the interrogation droid and switches off the scrambler.

“Your resistance to the mind probe is impressive, Princess,” he says, “but it will not save you.”

He strides out of the cell, the interrogation droid following behind him, leaving a conflicted Organa behind him.

* * *

Tarkin not only threatens Alderaan, but goes ahead with his threat. Vader doubts that the Rebel base is truly on Dantooine, as the Princess claimed: it is almost certainly a decoy, which Tarkin will discover soon enough.

Vader puts a hand on Organa’s shoulder as Alderaan is destroyed. From the outside, it looks as though he is restraining the Princess. Only he knows that he is attempting to steady her in her moment of shock and anguish. 

His own knees nearly buckle as he feels millions of Force presences die, in fear and a flare of brief, sudden agony, before they are suddenly silenced. Vader knows that he cannot show weakness in front of the other Imperials, and manages to stand tall and still even as his expression twists behind the safety of his helmet.

The Princess cries out, in shock and grief, and Vader feels the upswelling of hatred in her heart for Tarkin. It is a hatred and contempt that Vader shares – to destroy an entire planet, the majority of whom have done nothing to deserve their fate, merely to spite a single person… it is something which Sidious would do. Countless lives lost, merely to prove a point. Such a pointless _waste_ , Vader thinks. Killing does not bother him, but even he recoils from such mass genocide.

Vader escorts Organa back to her cell. The woman is in a daze, reeling from her loss, and Vader can feel her pain and disbelief clearly in the Force. Her anguish is familiar, and Vader feels a spark of unwilling sympathy. He too knows what it is like to lose everything.

But he says nothing, knowing that the last thing that the Princess wants is his understanding – even if he knew how to express it.

He turns to go, but the sound of Organa’s voice stops him.

“Vader.”

He pulls out the scrambler, and turns it on.

“Yes, Princess?”

“Tell me that this battle station has a weakness,” says Organa, her voice full of pain and fury.

Vader smiles a little behind his mask.

“It does,” he says, and leaves the Princess to her grief.

* * *

Vader has always known that Tarkin was scum; he holds no illusions about the man’s character. There is a reason, after all, why Tarkin holds such high rank in Sidious’ Empire. As Vader watches the man fume over the revelation that Organa lied about the location of the Rebel base, he smiles grimly, unseen behind the helmet. 

“I told you that she would never consciously betray the Rebellion,” he tells Tarkin, just to rub salt in the wound.

Tarkin’s nostrils flare in anger.

“Terminate her immediately!” he snaps, but the intercom buzzes, and with a restrained snarl, Tarkin answers it.

“Yes.”

“ _We’ve captured a freighter entering the remains of the Alderaan system. Its markings match those of a ship that blasted its way out of Mos Eisley_ ,” says the voice over the intercom.

It seem that Organa’s fate has, for the moment, been postponed, Vader muses.

“They must be trying to return the stolen plans to the Princess,” Vader says aloud. “She may yet be of some use to us.”

“Fine,” says Tarkin, still radiating anger. “But when this is over, I want her terminated!”

Vader inclines his head as though he intends to obey, smiling darkly behind his helmet, and turns on his heel and heads for the docking bay. If Vader has his way, Tarkin will meet his end here, along with the Death Star.

The Corellian freighter is empty, according to the officer who had it searched, but Vader gives the order for every inch of the freighter to be scanned. He’s about to enter the ship to search it himself when he feels something in the Force.

It is a presence he has not felt in nineteen years, but even so, it is unmistakable: after all these years of hiding, Obi-Wan Kenobi is finally ready to show his face. 

Vader reaches out with his senses, trying to locate the Jedi Master. Obi-Wan is somewhere on the Death Star, that is for certain. No doubt he intends to assist the Princess with her escape – but surely, he knows that he cannot leave the Death Star without Vader finding him first. Which means that at last, Obi-Wan is ready to face him, properly, and finish what he started on Mustafar all those years ago.

Vader frowns behind his helmet. It seems doubtful that Obi-Wan will be capable of beating him, even in his current state: Vader has long practice at defeating Jedi, after years of tracking down those who escaped the initial bloodbath of Order 66. Fighting Vader will almost certainly mean Obi-Wan’s death. This means, then, that for some reason, Obi-Wan values the life of the Princess above his own. It cannot be mere sentiment: Obi-Wan is too much of a Jedi for that. But what strategic value could the Princess have, beyond her position in the Rebellion? 

It doesn’t make sense. Vader knows that he is missing something.

Still frowning, he goes to alert Tarkin to Obi-Wan’s presence.

* * *

Obi-Wan is on his way back to the freighter when Vader steps forward, his lightsaber ignited, and waits. 

The sight of Obi-Wan brings back a rush of old and painful memories, and a bitterness that Vader has never been able to shake, in all the years since Obi-Wan left him to burn on the fiery shores of Mustafar. Lost in the anger is a sense of surprise, and almost… regret, as Vader takes in the aged face and white hair of the man who was, once, as close as a brother to him.

That ended with Obi-Wan’s betrayal. Vader puts all emotions aside but for his anger.

Vader sees Obi-Wan stop at the sight of him, mild surprise on his face before the expression is overtaken by resignation.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Obi-Wan,” Vader says. “We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but a learner. Now _I_ am the master.”

Obi-Wan’s eyes meet his.

“Only a master of evil, Darth,” Obi-Wan says, and brings his lightsaber down.

Vader blocks the blow easily, and their lightsabers hum as they clash together.

“I admit, your presence here surprised me,” says Vader, as they circle each other, each looking for an opening in the other’s guard. “Did you think to finish what you started?”

Obi-Wan shakes his head, his eyes never moving from the lenses of Vader’s helmet.

“I did not come to fight you, Darth,” he says – not Anakin, not Vader, but _Darth_ , his emphasis on the Sith title. There is nothing in his expression to suggest that he feels anything other than the same irritation he would feel if Vader were any other antagonist.

“Then you are here for the Princess,” Vader concludes, still circling. “Why is she of such importance to you?”

“Her father is an… old friend,” Obi-Wan replies.

“I was not aware that you were so close to Organa,” Vader says, probing.

A bittersweet smile crosses Obi-Wan’s lips.

“Cast your mind back, Darth. Bail Organa and I served together during the Clone Wars.”

“But briefly,” says Vader. “I suppose that like his daughter, Organa spent the intervening years assisting the Rebellion. Is that how _you_ have spent the last nineteen years?”

Obi-Wan says nothing, only smiles.

Vader steps back, and deactivates his lightsaber, watching Obi-Wan’s face.

Obi-Wan’s expression goes suddenly still, his eyes watchful.

“This technological terror of Tarkin’s must be destroyed,” he tells Obi-Wan, sees the barely-concealed shock that crosses Obi-Wan’s face. “Already it has been used to destroy an entire planet. I trust that the Death Star plans are in the Rebellion’s hands?”

Obi-Wan stares at him.

Vader glares impatiently.

“Well?”

“What are you playing at, Darth?” Obi-Wan looks wary.

“I play at nothing, old man. Sidious will doom the entire galaxy if he has his way. I am not strong enough to defy him outright, but he is not the only one capable of cunning. You will find the Princess in cell nine of the detention block.”

Obi-Wan is still staring at him.

“My associates are already on their way to free her,” he says finally. “I have disabled the tractor beam to allow us to escape.” 

He sounds just as suspicious as the Princess did earlier. 

“Good,” says Vader. He steps back, so that Obi-Wan can make his way past him. But Obi-Wan stands on the spot, simply watching Vader, as though attempting to make sense of him. Vader almost smiles behind his helmet. “I do not know why the Princess is so important, but if the Rebellion regards her existence as necessary, then you must get her off this battle station. Tarkin has placed a tracker on the freighter, inside one of the hidden compartments. You must locate the tracker and destroy it.”

Finally, Obi-Wan moves. He deactivates his own lightsaber, and moves past Vader as though expecting him to attack at any moment. But Vader stays where he is.

“I do not trust you,” Obi-Wan warns.

“You would be a fool to do so,” Vader says. 

With one last, backwards glance, Obi-Wan hurries down the passageway, back towards the docking bay.

Vader waits several minutes, before switching off the scrambler he turned on before confronting Obi-Wan. He tucks it back into his belt, and follows the path Obi-Wan took. He has to make things look convincing, after all.

Vader emerges into the docking bay in time to see Obi-Wan reunite with the Princess, a man in his thirties or so, a blond-haired youth, a couple of droids, and a Wookiee. 

It is the youth who captures Vader’s attention. His presence in the Force is just as strong as Organa’s – and just as untrained. But where Organa unconsciously restrains her presence, the youth projects his. He’s like a beacon in the Force, absolutely light. His presence is… strangely familiar, although Vader does not know why.

The small group scrambles for the freighter, dodging blaster fire from the stormtroopers stationed in the docking bay.

Vader ignites his lightsaber and strides forward. The man in the vest tries to shoot Vader even as he retreats into the freighter, but Vader blocks the blaster bolts easily. The freighter door closes, and a few minutes later, the freighter takes flight.

Vader turns away, and makes his way back up to the control room.

“Are they away?” Tarkin asks.

“They have just made the jump into hyperspace.”

“You’re sure the homing beacon is secure aboard their ship? I’m taking an awful risk, Vader. This had better work.”

“The Rebels have no reason to suspect that we are tracking their ship,” Vader says. “This way, we will not only be able to recover the stolen plans, but destroy the Rebels once and for all.”

Tarkin makes a sound of discontent, but doesn’t argue.

Ten minutes later, however –

“Sir, the homing beacon is no longer transmitting! We’ve lost the signal!”

“ _What?_ ” Vader demands loudly, but inside his helmet, he is grinning. “That is not possible!”

“Try to recapture the signal!” Tarkin orders. 

“I’m sorry, sir, but there’s no trace of the signal,” the tech answers fearfully.

“What is the last known location of the freighter?” Vader says.

The tech gives the coordinates.

“They could be headed anywhere!” Tarkin exclaims, and turns on Vader. “The Emperor will hear of your incompetence, Vader!”

“Do not think to threaten me, Tarkin,” Vader says, allowing menace to seep into his voice. “You may be commander of this battle station, but we both know that I outrank you.”

“Perhaps not for long,” Tarkin says furiously, and turns his back on Vader.

Vader thinks of choking the man, just for a moment – but he will be in enough trouble with the Emperor as it is, without murdering one who holds Sidious’ favour.

“We shall see,” is all he says.

* * *

Several hours later the Death Star is destroyed thanks to a particularly talented Rebel pilot, Tarkin and his cronies are dead, and Vader’s TIE fighter is floating in empty space.

Vader grins to himself, and inputs Coruscant’s coordinates. He’ll need to shield his true feelings in a blanket of hatred and resentment once he reaches Coruscant and reports to Sidious, but until then, there is no harm in his exultation. There is no one nearby capable of sensing it.

No doubt Obi-Wan is out there somewhere, still wondering what kind of game Vader is playing. Vader’s grin widens. Let the old man wonder, and worry. Vader will go after Obi-Wan once Sidious has been brought low, but until then, the proverb states that _the enemy of my enemy is my friend_ – or in this case, a valuable asset, Vader thinks. Vader wonders if Obi-Wan intends to train either the Princess or the strangely-familiar blonde youth. Perhaps Vader could subvert their training… or at the very least, convince them to assist him with dealing with the Emperor.

Things are about to get interesting, Vader thinks, and for the first time in years, he feels _alive_.


End file.
